Comments on the Green Paper
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Responses to the Green Paper Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy COM(2009)163 final OCEAN2012 c/o The Pew Charitable Trusts Square du Bastion 1A 1050 Brussels Belgium [email protected] www.OCEAN2012.eu OCEAN2012 – Transforming European Fisheries TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Acronyms 3 About OCEAN2012 4 Executive Summary 5 Introduction 7 The Current Common Fisheries Policy and its Outcomes 8 4. Overcoming the Five Structural Failings 9 4.1. Addressing the deep-rooted problem of fleet overcapacity 9 4.2. Focusing the policy objectives 12 4.3. Focusing the decision-making framework on core long-term principles 18 4.4 Encouraging the industry to take more responsibility in implementing the CFP 22 4.5. Developing a culture of compliance 24 5. Further Improving the Management of EU Fisheries 28 5.1. A differentiated fishing regime to protect small-scale coastal fleets 28 5.2. Making the most of our fisheries 31 5.3. Relative stability and access to coastal fisheries 38 5.4. Trade and markets – from catch to consumer 39 5.5. Integrating the Common Fisheries Policy in the broader maritime policy context 44 5.6. The knowledge base for the policy 49 5.7. Structural policy and public financial support 50 5.8. The external dimension 53 5.9. Aquaculture 60 Annex 1: Some General Comments on MSY, Sustainability and Precaution 63 2 OCEAN2012 – Transforming European Fisheries LIST OF ACRONYMS ACFA Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific group of countries CAP Common Agricultural Policy CFCA Common Fisheries Control Agency CFP Common Fisheries Policy CLA Catch Limit Algorithm EEA European Environment Agency EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EFF European Fisheries Fund EPA Economic Partnership Agreement EU European Union FCR Fisheries Compliance Review FIFG Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance FPA Fisheries Partnership Agreement GES Good Environmental Status ICES International Council for the Exploration of the Sea ILO International Labour Organisation IMP Integrated Maritime Policy ITQ Individual Transferable Quota IUU Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing IWC International Whaling Commission MPA Marine Protected Area MSFD Marine Strategy Framework Directive MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield PO Producer Organisation RAC Regional Advisory Council RBM Rights-Based Management RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organisation RMP Revised Management Procedure SC Scientific Committee SROI Social Return on Investment TAC Total Allowable Catch UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea VMS Vessel Monitoring System WTO World Trade Organisation 3 OCEAN2012 – Transforming European Fisheries ABOUT OCEAN2012 OCEAN2012 is an alliance of organisations dedicated to transforming European Fisheries Policy to stop overfishing, end destructive fishing practices and deliver fair and equitable use of healthy fish stocks. OCEAN2012 was initiated, and is coordinated, by the Pew Environment Group, the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization working to end overfishing in the world´s oceans. The founding members of OCEAN2012 are: Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA), Fisheries Secretariat (FISH), nef (new economics foundation), The Pew Environment Group and Seas At Risk (SAR). Our vision is of healthy oceans with abundant fish and wildlife contributing to human well being. Our mission is to ensure that the 2012 reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy stops overfishing, ends destructive fishing practices and delivers fair and equitable use of healthy fish stocks. Our broad alliance of organisations employs scientific evidence and extensive experience in engaging decision-makers and stakeholders at all levels. 4 OCEAN2012 – Transforming European Fisheries EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The public debate on the third reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) began on April 22nd 2009 with the publication of the European Commission’s Green Paper. With over 80 percent of assessed fish stocks in Community waters deemed overfished and the fishing industry stumbling from one crisis to another, the current CFP is widely perceived as being a failure. The situation is dire. Unless this reform addresses the main structural failings of the CFP, fish stocks will be further depleted, exacerbating the crises facing the fisheries sector, with potentially disastrous consequences for the marine environment as well as fishery-dependent coastal communities. European Union (EU) fisheries are characterised by fleets that are able to catch more fish than are available, catch limits that are frequently set too high for reasons of political expediency, opaque decision-making procedures and a culture of non-compliance with the rules. The 2002 CFP reform brought some improvements in the areas of long-term management, stakeholder participation, control and allocation of subsidies. However, it did not prioritise achieving environmental sustainability – a prerequisite for the socially and economically sustainable exploitation of marine resources. The Commission stated in the Green Paper that it “believes that a whole-scale and fundamental reform of the CFP and remobilisation of the fisheries sector can bring about the dramatic change that is needed to reverse the current situation. This must not be yet another piecemeal, incremental reform but a sea change cutting to the core reasons behind the vicious circle in which Europe’s fisheries have been trapped in recent decades.”1 This contribution to the consultation responds to this challenge, proposing a fundamentally new, principle-centred approach to fisheries management in Community waters and for the EU fleet globally. It outlines the key issues that the OCEAN2012 alliance would like to see incorporated into a new CFP: Environmental objectives should be enshrined in the CFP as a prerequisite to fulfilling social and economic objectives; the precautionary approach and the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management must form the fundamental basis upon which EU fisheries management is built. The CFP should define a decision-making framework ensuring that decisions are taken at the appropriate levels, differentiating between long-term strategic and operational management decisions. The CFP should define instruments and competencies which deliver sustainable fishing power2 at EU and regional level; this should include legally-binding and time-bound 1COM(2009)163 final: Green Paper – Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. 2In this context, fishing power is a measure of the properties of a fishing vessel, measured in terms of the fishing mortality the vessel causes in the fish stock(-s); it must not be confused with engine power. 5 OCEAN2012 – Transforming European Fisheries fishing power limits per fishery, or group of fisheries, in a given area in the case of multi- species fisheries. Access rules should be based on a set of criteria that ensure a transition to, and support for, environmentally and socially sustainable fishing. The decision-making processes should be transparent and participatory. While there are a great number of specific questions in the Commission’s Green Paper, OCEAN2012 believes it is important to maintain, throughout the reform process, the focus on purpose. The purpose of this CFP reform must be more than tinkering at the edges and rectifying some perceived wrongs. It must be the creation of a foundation upon which future sustainable fisheries can be built. Any management tools should only be applied in a framework that: includes a specific set of management objectives; sets criteria for resource access based on environmental considerations (preferential access to rights for environmentally-friendly fishing techniques); includes provisions on social equity (initial allocation, restrictions on quota transfers, priority to owner operators, protection of smaller scale interests etc.); involves all affected stakeholders in their design and implementation; restricts concentration of ownership or creation of fishing monopolies or cartels (e. g. caps on ownership to avoid excessive concentration of rights); provides for cost recovery; and contains a sunset provision/exit strategy (allowing for performance review and – in case of need –the reclaim of the right). In addition, the implementation of any management tools should be in conjunction with: input and/or output limits based on scientific advice and local knowledge, and applied with a precautionary approach; consistent monitoring of all catch, bycatch and discards; adequate enforcement; regular review of the program against pre-determined objectives; and adaptive management (requires both short and long term impact monitoring); changes must be made if objectives are not being met. We have, in our contribution to the consultation, focussed on answering the questions raised, where they are raised, at times with general observations preceding our answers. Occasionally we have referred to answers in other sections, and where we believe the questions have been leading we have stated so. 6 OCEAN2012 – Transforming European Fisheries INTRODUCTION The current CFP is widely perceived as a failure. The European Commission recognises that the situation is dire, and that a fundamental reform of the policy is urgently needed in order to ensure the future of the fishing sector and of marine biodiversity. We are at the end of an era and the EU is at a crossroads. The EU can choose to make some difficult choices and embark upon the road to environmentally and socially sustainable fishing,